Editors Note: This is NOT a paid political advertisement or endorsed by anyone other than the writer / author of this blog. On Monday, August 19th, Democratic Presidential candidate Julián Castro unveiled a platform focused on advancing the welfare of animals around the globe, both domestic and wildlife. It would raise standards for factory farms […]

They said it couldn’t happen. They said wild salmon would never breach penned-up fish farms. They were wrong. And that’s a big problem. On June 11, 2019, members from the ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ / Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, including Tribal Parks Guardians and members of the Clayoquot Sound Indigenous Salmon Alliance, boarded and inspected open net pen […] […]

President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency has escalated tensions all across the southern border. The large majority of residents who live near the Mexican border don’t want the Wall built. Their reasons include fear of the government’s use of eminent domain, the high probability of flooding from a built wall, concern of escalating tensions […] […]

Just when you thought your food choices were clear and safe. UK firm The John Innes Centre has applied for permission to plant experimental genetically modified wheat and broccoli in open fields at their farm outside Norwich, in the United Kingdom. The research company hopes to begin two small-scale field trials in April. In 2017, […]

When you consider our nation’s health, the quality of our food, its decreasing nutritional value and the increased degradation of our farmland, it’s not a pretty picture — and the challenges related to these issues keep growing. By 2050 the world’s population will likely reach close to 9 billion people. To feed everyone, we’ll need […]

Though a bit of a departure, there was a story that came across my email today I felt was important for the impact of the subject.

The poorest people all over the world can ill afford to purchase eye glasses to see well. Now British scientist Josh Silver – a professor of physics at Oxford University – has come up with a method of creating inexpensive glasses that wearers can self-adjust to their own prescription.

The novel solution entails combining durable plastic lenses with a pair of clear circular sacks filled with fluid. A small syringe connects each sack to either “arm” of the eyeglasses. Wearers adjust the syringe’s dial to increase or reduce the amount of fluid in the sack, which changes the power of the lens. Each lens is then sealed by twisting a small screw and removing the syringes.

Silver is working towards an ambitious goal: to offer glasses to a billion of the world’s poorest people by 2020. Already 30,000 of these new glasses have been distributed in 15 countries. Silver’s next goal is to launch a trial in India where they hope to distribute one million pairs of glasses.

Ultimately, Silver and his team plan to give 100 pairs every year to needy people across the world .

Silver, now retired, makes no profit from this venture. Though a huge undertaking, Silver’s reward is the reaction of people who can suddenly do everyday tasks with ease that before were almost impossible.

“People put them on, and smile,” says Major Kevin White, formerly of the US military’s humanitarian program, who organized the distribution of thousands of pairs around the world after discovering Silver’s glasses on Google.